Contact lens-based methods to deliver power to intraocular devices

ABSTRACT

An eye-mountable device is provided that includes a battery or other local power source and that can wirelessly power one or more intraocular devices using power from the battery. The eye-mountable device could be provided as a contact lens. The eye-mountable device could provide power to an intraocular device by emitting radio frequency energy, time-varying electrical fields through the conductive medium of the eye, or optical energy. The intraocular device could include an electronic lens configured to provide a controllable optical power to the eye. The intraocular device could include sensors configured to detect accommodation forces exerted by muscles of the eye; such detected forces could be used to control an electronic lens of the intraocular device or an electronic lens of the eye-mountable device. The battery could be rechargeable and the eye-mountable device could include instrumentation for receiving power to recharge the battery.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 62/289,220, filed Jan. 30, 2016, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in thissection are not prior art to the claims in this application and are notadmitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

Devices can be provided on the surface of the eye and/or within the eyeto provide a variety of functions. In some examples, these functions caninclude functions to improve the ability of a person to view theirenvironment (e.g., to provide an optical correction, to stimulate theretina directly) and/or to present additional visual information to theperson (e.g., to present a heads up display or other indications to theperson). Additionally or alternatively, these functions can includedetecting a property of the body of a person (e.g., a blood glucoselevel, a concentration of an ion in the blood) via the eye, e.g., byaccessing tears or other fluids that may be accessible on or within theeye and that have some relationship to the property of interest. Suchfunctions can be provided by an external, eye-mountable device (e.g., acontact lens that is configured to detect a glucose level in tear fluid,to provide a static and/or controllable optical power to the eye, toprovide light to the retina to indicate some information to a person)and/or by an intraocular device implanted within the eye (e.g., aretinal implant configured to stimulate the retina to restore vision, adevice implanted within the lens capsule to provide a static and/orcontrollable optical power to the eye).

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system including:(i) a first device that is removably mountable on an eye and thatincludes a battery and a wireless power transmitter that is operativelycoupled to the battery such that the power transmitter can wirelesslytransmit power from the battery; and (ii) a second device that isimplantable within the eye and that includes a wireless power receiverthat can receive power wirelessly transmitted by the wireless powertransmitter of the first device when the first device is mounted on theeye and the second device is implanted within the eye.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an eye-mountabledevice that includes: (i) a battery; and (ii) a wireless powertransmitter that is operatively coupled to the battery and that canwirelessly transmit power from the battery to an implanted device whenthe eye-mountable device is mounted on an eye and the implanted deviceis implanted within the eye.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method including:(i) mounting a first device to an eye, wherein the first device includesa battery and a wireless power transmitter, wherein a second device isimplanted within the eye and includes a wireless power receiver. Themethod additionally includes: (ii) wirelessly transmitting power fromthe battery via the wireless power transmitter; and (iii) receiving, bythe wireless power receiver, the power transmitted from the battery viathe wireless power transmitter.

These as well as other aspects, advantages, and alternatives, willbecome apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading thefollowing detailed description, with reference where appropriate to theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a bottom view of an example eye-mountable device.

FIG. 1B is an aspect view of the example eye-mountable device shown inFIG. 1A.

FIG. 1C is a side cross-section view of an example intraocular devicelocated within an eye and the example eye-mountable device shown inFIGS. 1A and 1B while mounted to a corneal surface of the eye.

FIG. 2A is a front view of an example eye-mountable device.

FIG. 2B is a perspective view of an example intraocular device.

FIG. 2C is a side cross-section view of the example eye-mountable deviceof FIG. 2A providing wireless power to the example intraocular device ofFIG. 2B when the eye-mountable device is mounted to an external surfaceof the eye and the intraocular device is disposed within the eye.

FIG. 3A is a bottom view of an example eye-mountable device.

FIG. 3B is a perspective view of an example intraocular device.

FIG. 3C is a side cross-section view of the example eye-mountable deviceof FIG. 3A providing wireless power to the example intraocular device ofFIG. 3B when the eye-mountable device is mounted to an external surfaceof the eye and the intraocular device is disposed within the eye.

FIG. 4A is a bottom view of an example eye-mountable device.

FIG. 4B is a perspective view of an example intraocular device.

FIG. 4C is a side cross-section view of the example eye-mountable deviceof FIG. 4A providing wireless power to the example intraocular device ofFIG. 4B when the eye-mountable device is mounted to an external surfaceof the eye and the intraocular device is disposed within the eye.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example system that includes aneye-mountable device that can provide power to an intraocular device andthat can receive power from a recharger.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an example process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying figures, which form a part hereof. In the figures, similarsymbols typically identify similar components, unless context dictatesotherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in the detaileddescription, figures, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Otherembodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, withoutdeparting from the scope of the subject matter presented herein. It willbe readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, asgenerally described herein, and illustrated in the figures, can bearranged, substituted, combined, separated, and designed in a widevariety of different configurations, all of which are explicitlycontemplated herein.

I. Overview

Devices located within the human body can operate using power receivedfrom a variety of sources. In some examples, wherein the powerrequirements and/or operational lifetime of the device are sufficientlyshort, a device could be powered by a battery of the device. Forexample, a variety of implanted pacemaker devices are powered bybatteries that may require replacement after a period of operation ofthe pacemaker. Additionally or alternatively, a device could receivepower from outside of the body. In some examples, this could include acable extending from the device through the skin such that an externalpower source may be connected to the cable to power the device. In otherexamples, the device could receive wireless energy from outside of thebody, e.g., using an antenna coil to receive radio frequencyelectromagnetic energy.

Implanted devices could be located within the eye of a person. Suchdevices could be located within the lens capsule, within the anteriorchamber, within the fibrous wall of the eye, proximate to the retina, orin some other location(s) of the eye according to an application. Forexample, a device could include an electronically actuated lens andcould be located within the lens capsule of the eye (following removalof the natural crystalline lens) to provide a controllable amount ofoptical power to the eye. Such a device could additionally oralternatively include a sensor operable to detect accommodation forcesor other parameters relating to an attempt by the eye to control theoptical power of the eye (e.g., to focus on something close to the eye),and such detected parameters could be used to control an actuated lensof the device and/or to transmit an indication of the detectedparameters to some other system (e.g., to a contact lens that includesan actuated lens).

Such devices implanted in the eye could be powered by batteries.However, such batteries may require frequent replacement (necessitatinga surgical procedure to replace the battery and/or the device). Further,placement of such a power source within the eye could reduce the abilityto completely power-off the device (e.g., to reset the device or todeactivate the device). Alternatively, such device implanted in the eyecould be powered by energy received wirelessly from outside of the eye.For example, a head mounted display (HMD), eyeglasses, and/or a contactlens could transmit wireless power in a variety of ways that could bereceived by the implanted device and used to perform functions of theimplanted device (e.g., to stimulate the retina, to provide acontrollable optical power to the eye, to detect an accommodation forceapplied to the lens capsule). Further, removal of such external devicesfrom the body and/or disabling the power-transmission functionality ofsuch devices could provide means for resetting the implanted device(s)and/or completely disabling the functionality of the implanteddevice(s).

In a particular example, a contact lens could be removably mounted tothe eye to provide power to a device implanted in the eye. Such acontact lens could include a battery (to provide power for the implanteddevice and/or to power functions of the contact lens) and a powertransmitter that is operable to wirelessly transmit power from thebattery to the implanted device. Location of the contact lens on the eyecould provide higher-efficiency power transfer to the implanted device(e.g., due to reduced proximity and/or improved alignment with theimplanted device relative to an HMD or other power-transmitting device)and/or provide wireless power transfer via means that are available viadirect contact with the eye (e.g., via transmission of time-varyingelectrical currents through the tissue of the eye). Further, embodimentof such a wireless power providing device as an eye-mountable devicecould provide a relatively cosmetic and/or non-disruptive means forproviding power to the implanted device. Such a contact lens could, whenthe battery is depleted, be removed and replaced by another devicehaving a non-depleted battery and/or recharged to be used again. Thecontact lens could provide additional functionality, e.g., to providecommunications between the implanted device and an external system, toprovide a controllable optical power to the eye (using an actuated lensof the contact lens) that is controlled based on accommodation forcesdetected by the implanted device and transmitted to the contact lens, orsome other functionality.

Power could be wirelessly provided, by a contact lens to a deviceimplanted within an eye to which the contact lens is removably mounted,in a variety of ways. In some examples, the power could be transmittedas radio frequency electromagnetic energy, e.g., from a radio-frequencyantenna of the contact lens (e.g., a single-turn coil formed frommetallic traces disposed on a substrate of the contact lens) to anantenna of the implanted device (e.g., a multi-turn coil formed alongthe periphery of the implanted device). In another example, the powercould be transmitted as optical energy, e.g., from a light-emittingdiode (LED) or other light-emitting element(s) of the contact lens to aphotovoltaic cell or other light-receiving element(s) of the implanteddevice. In yet another example, the power could be transmitted astime-varying currents and/or voltages propagating through the tissuesand/or fluids of the eye (e.g., through the tears, cornea, vitreous,iris, and/or lens capsule of the eye), e.g., from two or more electrodesof the contact lens to two or more electrodes of the implanted device.The power could be wirelessly transmitted in some other way(s).

II. Example Eye-Mountable Device

An eye-mountable device (e.g., a contact lens) can include a battery anda power transmitter and can be operable to wirelessly transmit, usingthe power transmitter, power from the battery to an implanted devicelocated on or within an eye when the eye-mountable device is removablymounted to the eye. Such an eye-mountable device could be formedaccording to one of a variety of shapes such that the eye-mountabledevice can be removably mounted to an eye, e.g., the eye-mountabledevice could be shaped to mount to the cornea of the eye, over the pupiland iris. The shape of the eye-mountable device could be specified tofacilitate the eye-mountable device being located and/or oriented in aspecified way relative to an implanted device within the eye, e.g., tofacilitate the location of the eye-mountable device on the cornea overthe pupil such that elements (e.g., antennas, light emitters,electrodes) of the eye-mountable device are oriented and/or locatedrelative to elements (e.g., antennas, light receivers, electrodes) ofthe device implanted in the eye.

FIG. 1A is a bottom view of an example eye-mountable electronic device110. FIG. 1B is an aspect view of the example eye-mountable electronicdevice shown in FIG. 1A. It is noted that relative dimensions in FIGS.1A and 1B are not necessarily to scale, but have been rendered forpurposes of explanation only in describing the arrangement of theexample eye-mountable electronic device 110. The eye-mountable device110 is formed of a polymeric material 120 shaped as a curved disk. Thepolymeric material 120 can be a substantially transparent material toallow incident light to be transmitted to the eye while theeye-mountable device 110 is mounted to the eye. The polymeric material120 can be a biocompatible material similar to those employed to formvision correction and/or cosmetic contact lenses in optometry, such aspolyethylene terephthalate (“PET”), polymethyl methacrylate (“PMMA”),silicone hydrogels, rigid, gas-permeable polymeric materials,combinations of these, etc. The polymeric material 120 can be formedwith one side having a concave surface 126 suitable to fit over acorneal surface of an eye. The opposing side of the disk can have aconvex surface 124 that does not interfere with eyelid motion while theeye-mountable device 110 is mounted to the eye. A circular outer sideedge 128 connects the concave surface 124 and convex surface 126.

The eye-mountable device 110 can have dimensions similar to a visioncorrection and/or cosmetic contact lenses, such as a diameter ofapproximately 1 centimeter, and a thickness of about 0.1 to about 0.5millimeters. However, the diameter and thickness values are provided forexplanatory purposes only. In some embodiments, the dimensions of theeye-mountable device 110 can be selected according to the size and/orshape of the corneal surface of the wearer's eye.

The polymeric material 120 can be formed with a curved shape in avariety of ways. For example, techniques similar to those employed toform vision-correction contact lenses, such as heat molding, injectionmolding, spin casting, etc. can be employed to form the polymericmaterial 120. While the eye-mountable device 110 is mounted in an eye,the convex surface 124 faces outward to the ambient environment whilethe concave surface 126 faces inward, toward the corneal surface. Theconvex surface 124 can therefore be considered an outer, top surface ofthe eye-mountable device 110 whereas the concave surface 126 can beconsidered an inner, bottom surface. The “bottom” view shown in FIG. 1Ais facing the concave surface 126. From the bottom view shown in FIG.1A, the outer periphery 122, near the outer circumference of the curveddisk is curved out of the page, whereas the center region 121, near thecenter of the disk is curved into the page.

A substrate 130 is embedded in the polymeric material 120. The substrate130 can be embedded to be situated along the outer periphery 122 of thepolymeric material 120, away from the center region 121. The substrate130 does not interfere with vision because it is too close to the eye tobe in focus and is positioned away from the center region 121 whereincident light is transmitted to the eye-sensing portions of the eye.Moreover, the substrate 130 can be formed of a transparent material tofurther mitigate any effects on visual perception.

The substrate 130 can be shaped as a flat, circular ring (e.g., a diskwith a central hole). The flat surface of the substrate 130 (e.g., alongthe radial width) is a platform for mounting electronics such as chips(e.g., via flip-chip mounting) or batteries and for patterningconductive materials (e.g., via deposition techniques) to formelectrodes (e.g., an anode and/or cathode of an electrochemical battery,electrodes of an electrochemical sensor), antenna(e), and/orconnections. The substrate 130 and the polymeric material 120 can beapproximately cylindrically symmetric about a common central axis. Thesubstrate 130 can have, for example, a diameter of about 10 millimeters,a radial width of about 1 millimeter (e.g., an outer radius 1 millimetergreater than an inner radius), and a thickness of about 50 micrometers.However, these dimensions are provided for example purposes only, and inno way limit the present disclosure. The substrate 130 can beimplemented in a variety of different form factors.

A battery 170, controller 150, and power transmitter 160 are disposed onthe embedded substrate 130. The controller 150 can be a chip includinglogic elements configured to receive power from the battery 170 and tooperate the power transmitter 160 to wirelessly transmit power from thebattery 170 to an implanted device within an eye to which theeye-mountable device 110 may be removably mounted. The controller 150 iselectrically connected to the battery 170 and to the power transmitter160 by interconnects 157 also situated on the substrate 130. Theinterconnects 157, elements of the power transmitter 160 (e.g., powertransmission electrodes, antennas), and any conductive electrodes (e.g.,an anode and cathode of the battery 170, for an electrochemical ionsensor, etc.) can be formed from conductive materials patterned on thesubstrate 130 by a process for precisely patterning such materials, suchas deposition, lithography, etc. The conductive materials patterned onthe substrate 130 can be, for example, gold, platinum, palladium,titanium, carbon, aluminum, copper, silver, silver-chloride, conductorsformed from noble materials, metals, combinations of these, etc.

As shown in FIG. 1A, which is a view facing the concave surface 126 ofthe eye-mountable device 110, the battery 170 and power transmitter 160are mounted to a side of the substrate 130 facing the concave surface126. However, the electronics, power transmitter, battery, etc. situatedon the substrate 130 can be mounted to either the “inward” facing side(e.g., situated closest to the concave surface 126) or the “outward”facing side (e.g., situated closest to the convex surface 124).Moreover, in some embodiments, some electronic components can be mountedon one side of the substrate 130, while other electronic components aremounted to the opposing side, and connections between the two can bemade via conductive materials passing through the substrate 130.

The power transmitter 160 illustrated in FIG. 1A is intended as anon-limiting example of the shape, size, relative location (e.g.,relative to the controller 150 and/or the battery 170), or otherproperties of a power transmitter of an eye-mountable device asdescribed herein. The power transmitter 160 could include light-emittingelements (e.g., LEDs, lasers, infrared light sources, visible lightsources), electrodes (e.g., electrodes that are operable to inject atime-varying current into a tear fluid such that power may be wirelesslytransmitted, via ionic currents or other in-body electrical signals, toelectrodes of an implanted device), antennas (e.g., a patch antenna, aloop antenna disposed around the periphery of the substrate 130), orother power-transmitting elements. For example, the power transmitter160 could include a loop antenna formed on the substrate the at leastpartially encircle the center region 121 (not shown).

Such a loop antenna can be a layer of conductive material patternedalong the flat surface of the substrate to form a flat conductive ring.In some instances, such a loop antenna can be formed without making acomplete loop. For instance, such an antenna can have a cutout to allowroom for the controller 150 or other elements of the device 110.However, such a loop antenna can also be arranged as a continuous stripof conductive material that wraps entirely around the flat surface ofthe substrate 130 one or more times. For example, a strip of conductivematerial with multiple windings can be patterned on the side of thesubstrate 130 opposite the controller 150 and battery 170. Interconnectsbetween the ends of such a wound antenna (e.g., the antenna leads) canbe passed through the substrate 130 to the controller 150. Such a loopantenna could be used to facilitate additional functionality, e.g., toprovide means for communicating with other devices (e.g., with animplanted device that is receiving wireless power from the eye-mountabledevice 110 via the loop antenna and/or via some other means), to providemeans for recharging a rechargeable battery of the eye-mountable device110 (e.g., 170), or to provide some other functionality.

Further, note that the configuration of the battery 170 as a ringdisposed on the substrate 130 that partially encircles the center region121 is intended as a non-limiting example. The battery 170 couldcompletely encircle the center region 170 (e.g., by being formed ordisposed on a side of the substrate 130 opposite the controller 130),could take the form of an arc, a square, or could take some other form.The eye-mountable device 110 could include multiple discrete batteriesthat could be electrically connected in series, in parallel, oraccording to some other consideration. One or more elements of thebattery 170 (e.g., an anode, a cathode) could be formed as conductivetraces patterned on the substrate 130. Additionally or alternatively,the battery 170 could be formed independently of the substrate 130 andsubsequently disposed on the substrate 130 (e.g., using solder, using anadhesive, by potting the battery 170 and substrate 130 proximate eachother in a precursor material used to form the polymeric material 120).The battery could be rechargeable (e.g., could have a lithium-polymerchemistry) or could be non-rechargeable. In some examples, the battery170 could be activated by exposure to tears or some other aqueous fluidof an eye (e.g., the battery 170 could be a zinc battery that isactivated by exposure to an aqueous fluid in which oxygen is dissolved).

FIG. 1C is a side cross-section view of the example eye-mountable device110 while mounted to a corneal surface 22 of an eye 10. An implanteddevice 150 is located within the eye 10 and is operable to receivewireless power 135 transmitted from the eye-mountable device 110. Theeye 10 includes a cornea 20 that is covered by bringing the upper eyelid30 and lower eyelid 32 together over the top of the eye 10. Incidentlight is received by the eye 10 through the cornea 20, where light isoptically directed to light sensing elements of the eye 10 (e.g., rodsand cones, etc.) to stimulate visual perception.

The light received by the retina is transmitted, in the unaltered eye,through the crystalline lens, being refracted by the lens such thatlight received from elements of an environment (e.g., from a book)arrives in focus at the retina. The crystalline lens is located withinthe lens capsule of the eye, which is connected, via the zonules, toaccommodation muscles and other elements of the eye. Accommodationforces generated by the zonules (e.g., by the accommodation muscles, byintrinsic elasticity of the zonules, or by other sources) act, in theeye, to deform the crystalline lens within the lens capsule, controllingthe optical power provided by the crystalline lens.

As shown in FIG. 1C, a window has been formed in the front of the lenscapsule 40 of the eye 10 and the crystalline lens has been removed. Theimplanted device 150 has been disposed within the lens capsule 40 (e.g.,is maintained in place within the lens capsule 40 by haptics, by anelastic material disposed and/or formed within the lens capsule 40, orby some other means). Zonules 45 of the eye 10 connect to the lenscapsule 40 and exert accommodation forces on the lens capsule 40.

It is noted that relative dimensions in FIG. 1C are not necessarily toscale, but have been rendered for purposes of explanation only indescribing the arrangement of the example eye-mountable electronicdevice 110 and an implanted device 150 located within the eye 10.Further, the location of the implanted device 150 within the lenscapsule 40 of the eye 10 is intended as a non-limiting example of thelocation of a device that is implanted on or within an eye and that isoperable to receive wireless power (e.g., from the eye-mountable device110) and to use such received wireless power to perform someoperation(s). An implanted device as described herein couldalternatively be located in the anterior chamber, in the vitreous humor,on the surface of the retina, in the posterior chamber anterior to thelens capsule, within the wall of the eye, or at or within some otherportion of the eye. Further, such an implanted device could includemultiple elements, located, e.g., in multiple different locations. Suchmultiple elements could be connected via a cable or by some other means.For example, such an implanted device could include a power receptionelement that is disposed in the posterior capsule and that is operableto receive wireless power from the eye-mountable device 110 and astimulation element that is disposed on the retina and that is operableto stimulate cells of the retina using power received, via a tetherconnecting the stimulation element and the power reception element, fromthe power reception element.

As shown in the cross-sectional view in FIG. 1C, the substrate 130 canbe inclined such that the flat mounting surfaces of the substrate 130are approximately parallel to the adjacent portion of the concavesurface 126. As described above, the substrate 130 is a flattened ringwith an inward-facing surface (closer to the concave surface 126 of thepolymeric material 120) and an outward-facing surface (closer to theconvex surface 124). The substrate 130 can have electronic componentsand/or patterned conductive materials mounted to either or both mountingsurfaces. For example, in embodiments wherein the eye-mountable device110 transmits wireless power 135 by emitting one or more beams of lightand/or by injecting time-varying currents via electrodes, light emittingelements (e.g., LEDs, sources of infrared and/or visible light),electrodes, or other power-transmitting elements of a power transmitterof the eye-mountable device 110 could be disposed in the inward-facingsurface of the substrate 130. Further, the degree of incline, diameter,or other properties of the substrate 130 and/or the location of elementsof a power transmitter or other elements of the eye-mountable device 110on the substrate 130 could be specified to facilitate power transmissionfrom the eye-mountable device 110 to the implanted device 150. Forexample, such properties of the eye-mountable device could be specifiedsuch that a beam of light emitted from the eye-mountable device isdirected toward a power-receiving element (e.g., a photovoltaic cell) ofthe implanted device 150 when the eye-mountable device 110 is mounted tothe eye 10.

The wireless power 135 transmitted, by the transmitter of theeye-mountable device 110, from the battery of the eye-mountable device110 to a receiver of the implanted device 150 could include light (e.g.,beams of light), radio frequency electromagnetic waves, time-varyingcurrents and/or voltages in the tissues and/or fluids of the eye,acoustical waves, electrical fields, magnetic fields, or some otherprocess of propagation of power through space and/or through biologicaltissues or fluids. As noted above, elements of the power transmitter ofthe eye-mountable device 110 could be configured such that the elementsare aligned with elements of the power receiver of the implantabledevice 150 when the eye-mountable device 110 is mounted to the eye 10.This could include an alignment that is dependent on the relativeorientation of the eye-mountable device on the cornea; in such examples,the eye-mountable device 110 could be weighted or otherwise configuredto control the orientation of the eye-mountable device 110 relative tothe eye 10 and/or to the implanted device 150. In some examples,elements of the power transmitter and/or power receiver could beradially symmetric, such that power can be transmitted from theeye-mountable device 110 to the implanted device 150 regardless of theorientation of the eye-mountable device 110 relative to the implanteddevice 150.

FIG. 2A shows a top view of an eye-mountable device 210. FIG. 2B shows aperspective view of an implantable device 250 that can be implantedwithin an eye. The eye-mountable device 210 is removably mountable to aneye and is operable to wirelessly transmit power, from a battery 242 ofthe eye-mountable device 210, when the eye-mountable device 210 isremovably mounted to an eye on or within which the implanted device 250is implanted. This is illustrated in FIG. 2C, which shows theeye-mountable device 210 mounted to the surface of a cornea 201 of aneye. The implantable device 250 is disposed within the eye, beneath aniris 203 of the eye (e.g., within a lens capsule of the eye). Theeye-mountable device 210 is emitting radio frequency electromagneticenergy 260 to provide wireless power to the implanted device 250.

The eye-mountable device 210 includes a substrate 230 disposed within apolymeric material 220 shaped to facilitate mounting of the device 210to an eye (e.g., to the surface of the cornea 201). A controller 240, abattery 242, and a loop antenna 244 are disposed on the substrate 230and connected via interconnects 246. The eye-mountable device 210includes a power transmitter that is configured to emit radio frequencyelectromagnetic energy. This power transmitter includes the loop antenna244, elements of the controller 240 (e.g., oscillators, switches,modulators, capacitors, phase locked loops), and any other elements ofthe device 210 (not shown; e.g., other chips, discrete components,inductors, capacitors, impedance matching structures comprising tracesformed on the substrate 230) that are configured to wirelessly transmitpower from the battery 242 as radio frequency electromagnetic energy(e.g., as time-varying electromagnetic fields or waves, time-varyingmagnetic fields, and/or time-varying electric fields).

The implantable device 250 includes a variety of elements (e.g., ahousing, an encapsulation layer, haptics) configured to facilitateimplantation of the implantable device 250 on or within an eye (e.g.,beneath the iris, 203, within a lens capsule, within a wall of the eye,within an anterior chamber of the eye, within or beneath the corneaand/or sclera of the eye). The implantable device 250 additionallyincludes a multi-turn coil 256 configured to receive radio frequencyenergy transmitted from the eye-mountable device 210. The implantabledevice includes a power receiver that is configured to receive radiofrequency electromagnetic energy. This power receiver includes themulti-turn coil 256 and any other elements of the implantable device 250(not shown; e.g., a controller, one or more rectifiers, a lowpassfilter, a power storage and/or voltage smoothing capacitor, discretecomponents, inductors, capacitors, impedance matching structures) thatare configured to receive power wirelessly transmitted from theeye-mountable device as radio frequency electromagnetic energy. Theimplantable device 250 may include further elements, e.g., one or moretransmitters and/or receivers configured to communicate with theeye-mountable device 210 or with some other external or implanted system(e.g., by emitting and/or receiving light, radio frequencyelectromagnetic fields, or other wireless transmissions).

The implantable device 250 further includes elements related to anapplication of the implantable device 250 to detect accommodation forcesgenerated by an eye (e.g., accommodation forces that are applied to alens capsule of the eye by zonules of the eye) and to provide acontrollable optical power to the eye related to the detectedaccommodation forces. These elements include accommodation sensors 254configured to detect the accommodation forces (e.g., by detecting forcesor pressures exerted on the sensors 254 via, e.g., haptics of the device(not shown), an elastic material disposed around the device 250 andwithin the lens capsule, or by some other means) and an actuated lens252 configured to provide a controllable optical power to an eye (e.g.,by applying a voltage to a liquid crystal layer of the actuated lens252).

Note that, as shown in FIG. 2C, the radio frequency antennas of theeye-mountable device 210 and the implanted device 250 (i.e., the loopantenna 244 and the multi-turn coil 256) are substantially coaxial. Thatis, the central axis of the radio frequency antennas are insubstantially the same direction (e.g., within 15 degrees) and atsubstantially the same location (e.g., within less than 5 millimeters).The antennas being coaxial could result in an increased efficiency ofpower transfer between the eye-mountable device 210 and the implanteddevice 250. As shown, the devices 210, 250 are configured and disposedon/within the eye such that the radio-frequency antennas of the device210, 250 are coaxial; this includes the devices 210, 250 both beinglocated on a central optical axis of the eye and the radio frequencyantennas being substantially coaxial with the central optical axis.

FIG. 3A shows a bottom view of an eye-mountable device 310. FIG. 3Bshows a perspective view of an implantable device 350 that can beimplanted within an eye. The eye-mountable device 310 is removablymountable to an eye and is operable to wirelessly transmit power, from abattery 342 of the eye-mountable device 310, when the eye-mountabledevice 310 is removably mounted to an eye on or within which theimplanted device 350 is implanted. This is illustrated in FIG. 3C, whichshows the eye-mountable device 310 mounted to the surface of a cornea301 of an eye. The implantable device 350 is disposed within the eye,beneath an iris 303 of the eye (e.g., within a lens capsule of the eye).The eye-mountable device is emitting light 360 to provide wireless powerto the implanted device 350.

The eye-mountable device 310 includes a substrate 330 disposed within apolymeric material 320 shaped to facilitate mounting of the device 310to an eye (e.g., to the surface of the cornea 301). A controller 340, abattery 342, and light emitters 344 are disposed on the substrate 330and may be connected via interconnects (not shown). The light emitters344 could include LEDs, lasers (e.g., VCSELs), emitters of infraredlight or other non-visible wavelengths of light, or other light-emittingelements and/or optical elements (e.g., lenses, diffraction grating,collimators, mirrors). The eye-mountable device 310 includes a powertransmitter that is configured to emit light. This power transmitterincludes the light emitters 344, elements of the controller 340 (e.g.,oscillators, switches, modulators, capacitors, phase locked loops,feedback amplifiers, boost and/or buck converters), and any otherelements of the device 310 (not shown; e.g., other chips, discretecomponents, inductors, capacitors, switches) that are configured towirelessly transmit power from the battery 342 as light (e.g., as beamsof light 360). The emitted light could be infrared light, e.g., toreduce visual artifacts caused by a portion of the emitted lightilluminating the retina of the eye.

The implantable device 350 includes a variety of elements (e.g., ahousing, an encapsulation layer, haptics) configured to facilitateimplantation of the implantable device 350 on or within an eye (e.g.,beneath the iris, 303, within a lens capsule, within a wall of the eye,within an anterior chamber of the eye, within or beneath the corneaand/or sclera of the eye). The implantable device 350 additionallyincludes a light sensor 356 (e.g., one or more photovoltaic cells)configured to receive light transmitted from the eye-mountable device310. The implantable device includes a power receiver that is configuredto receive wireless power transmitted as light. This power receiverincludes the light sensor 356 and any other elements of the implantabledevice 350 (not shown; e.g., a controller, one or more rectifiers, alowpass filter, a power storage and/or voltage smoothing capacitor,boost converters, buck converters, discrete components, inductors,capacitors) that are configured to receive power wirelessly transmittedfrom the eye-mountable device as light. The implantable device 350 mayinclude further elements, e.g., one or more transmitters and/orreceivers configured to communicate with the eye-mountable device 310 orwith some other external or implanted system (e.g., by emitting and/orreceiving light, radio frequency electromagnetic fields, or otherwireless transmissions).

The implantable device 350 further includes elements related to anapplication of the implantable device 350 to detect accommodation forcesgenerated by an eye (e.g., accommodation forces that are applied to alens capsule of the eye by zonules of the eye) and to provide acontrollable optical power to the eye related to the detectedaccommodation forces. These elements include accommodation sensors 354configured to detect the accommodation forces (e.g., by detecting forcesor pressures exerted on the sensors 354 via, e.g., haptics of the device(not shown), an elastic material disposed around the device 350 andwithin the lens capsule, or by some other means) and an actuated lens352 configured to provide a controllable optical power to an eye (e.g.,by applying a voltage to a liquid crystal layer of the actuated lens352).

Note that, as shown in FIG. 3C, the light emitters 344 of theeye-mountable device 310 and the light sensor 356 of the implanteddevice 350 are configured such that beams of light 360 emitted from theeye-mountable device 310 can be received by light sensor 356 despiterotation of the eye-mountable device 310 and further such that theemitted beams of light 360 minimally disperse light toward the rods,cones, or other light-sensitive elements of the eye. In the illustratedexample, this includes the light sensor 356 forming a circle such thatsome aspect of the light sensor 356 received light even if theeye-mountable device 310 rotates (e.g., such that the beams of light 360rotate about the axis of rotation of the eye-mountable device 310).Additionally or alternatively, the eye-mountable device 310 could beweighted or otherwise configured such that the orientation of theeye-mountable device 310 relative to the implanted device 350 could becontrolled. In such an example, the light emitter of the eye-mountabledevice and the light sensor of the implantable device could be locatedand/or configured such that, when the weighting of the eye-mountabledevice aligns the eye-mountable device with the implantable device, abeam of light emitted from the eye-mountable device is received by thelight sensor of the implanted device. In another embodiment, theeye-mountable device could include an array of light emitters, eachconfigured to emit a beam of light in a respective direction and/or froma respective location. In such an embodiment, one or more of the lightemitters could be selected and used to emit beam(s) of light such thatthe light emitted from the eye-mountable device is received by a lightsensor of the implanted device. The direction of a beam of light emittedfrom an eye-mountable device could be controlled by some other means,e.g., by an actuated mirror.

The beams of light 360 emitted from the eye-mountable device 310 are, asillustrated in FIG. 3C, off-axis relative to an optical axis of the eye.The eye-mountable device 310 could be configured to provide suchoff-axis beams of light in order to reduce an amount of light emittedfrom the eye-mountable device 310 that is not received by lightsensor(s) of the implanted device 350 and/or to reduce an amount oflight emitted from the eye-mountable device 310 that is absorbed by theretina or other biological elements of the eye, e.g., to reduce visualartifacts caused by such light. Additionally or alternatively, theemitted light could be emitted along the optical axis of the eye, andthe implanted device 350 could receive such light (e.g., using asubstantially transparent photovoltaic cell disposed on the actuatedlens 352 or on some other element(s) of the implanted device 350) and/orcould include a filter to block transmission of such light further intothe eye (e.g., to prevent transmission of such light to the retina).

FIG. 4A shows a top view of an eye-mountable device 410. FIG. 4B shows aperspective view of an implantable device 450 that can be implantedwithin an eye. The eye-mountable device 410 is removably mountable to aneye and is operable to wirelessly transmit power, from a battery 442 ofthe eye-mountable device 410, when the eye-mountable device 410 isremovably mounted to an eye on or within which the implanted device 450is implanted. This is illustrated in FIG. 4C, which shows theeye-mountable device 410 mounted to the surface of a cornea 401 of aneye. The implanted able device 450 is disposed within the eye, beneathan iris 403 of the eye (e.g., within a lens capsule of the eye). Theeye-mountable device 410 is transmitting time-varying current throughelectrodes 444 of the eye-mountable device 410 to provide wireless power(via time-varying ionic or other currents within the tissues and/orfluids of the eye) to the implanted device 450.

The eye-mountable device 410 includes a substrate 430 disposed within apolymeric material 420 shaped to facilitate mounting of the device 410to an eye (e.g., to the surface of the cornea 401). A controller 440, abattery 442, and first-device electrodes 444 are disposed on thesubstrate 430 and connected via interconnects (not shown). Theeye-mountable device 410 includes a power transmitter that is configuredto transmit time-varying currents into biological fluids and/or tissues.This power transmitter includes the first-device electrodes 444,elements of the controller 440 (e.g., oscillators, switches, modulators,capacitors, phase locked loops), and any other elements of the device410 (not shown; e.g., other chips, discrete components, inductors,capacitors) that are configured to wirelessly transmit power from thebattery 442 as time-varying currents transmitted through thefirst-device electrodes 444 (e.g., as time-varying ionic or othercurrents propagating through the tissues and/or fluids of the eye).

The implantable device 450 includes a variety of elements (e.g., ahousing, an encapsulation layer, haptics) configured to facilitateimplantation of the implantable device 450 on or within an eye (e.g.,beneath the iris, 403, within a lens capsule, within a wall of the eye,within an anterior chamber of the eye, within or beneath the corneaand/or sclera of the eye). The implantable device 450 additionallyincludes second-device electrodes 456 configured to receive wirelesspower transmitted as time-varying currents through the tissues and/orfluids of the eye from the eye-mountable device 410. The implantabledevice includes a power receiver that is configured to receive powerfrom time-varying currents and/or voltages in the tissues and/or fluidsof the eye. This power receiver includes the second-device electrodes456 and any other elements of the implantable device 450 (not shown;e.g., a controller, one or more rectifiers, a lowpass filter, a powerstorage and/or voltage smoothing capacitor, discrete components,inductors, capacitors, boost converters, buck converters) that areconfigured to receive power wirelessly transmitted from theeye-mountable device as time-varying currents transmitted into thefluids or tissues of the eye. The implantable device 450 may includefurther elements, e.g., one or more transmitters and/or receiversconfigured to communicate with the eye-mountable device 410 or with someother external or implanted system (e.g., by emitting and/or receivinglight, radio frequency electromagnetic fields, or other wirelesstransmissions).

The implantable device 450 further includes elements related to anapplication of the implantable device 450 to detect accommodation forcesgenerated by an eye (e.g., accommodation forces that are applied to alens capsule of the eye by zonules of the eye) and to provide acontrollable optical power to the eye related to the detectedaccommodation forces. These elements include accommodation sensors 454configured to detect the accommodation forces (e.g., by detecting forcesor pressures exerted on the sensors 454 via, e.g., haptics of the device(not shown), an elastic material disposed around the device 450 andwithin the lens capsule, or by some other means) and an actuated lens452 configured to provide a controllable optical power to an eye (e.g.,by applying a voltage to a liquid crystal layer of the actuated lens452).

Note that, as shown in FIG. 4C, the first-device electrodes 444 of theeye-mountable device 410 and the second-device electrodes 456 of theimplanted device 450 are configured such that time-varying voltagesand/or currents within the eye, caused by time-varying currenttransmitted from the eye-mountable device 410 can be received by thesecond-device electrodes 456 despite rotation of the eye-mountabledevice 410. In the illustrated example, this includes the second-deviceelectrodes 456 forming circles such that a voltage gradient is presentacross the second-device electrodes 456 even if the eye-mountable device410 rotates (e.g., such that the pattern of propagating time-varyingcurrents and/or voltages (e.g., time-varying dipolar electrical fields)rotate about the axis of rotation of the eye-mountable device 410).Additionally or alternatively, the eye-mountable device 410 could beweighted or otherwise configured such that the orientation of theeye-mountable device 410 relative to the implanted device 450 could becontrolled.

In such an example, the electrodes of the eye-mountable device and theimplantable device could be located and/or configured to increase thedistance between the electrodes (e.g., to increase an efficiency of thepower transfer and/or to increase a magnitude of a received voltagedifference between electrodes of the implanted device). This couldinclude locating electrodes of the eye-mountable device on oppositesides of the eye-mountable device and locating electrodes of theimplantable device on opposite sides of the implantable such that, whenthe weighting of the eye-mountable device aligns the eye-mountabledevice with the implantable device, the electrodes of the eye-mountabledevice and the electrodes of the implanted device are aligned. Inanother embodiment, the eye-mountable device could include an array ofelectrodes located at respective different locations around theperiphery of the substrate 130. In such an embodiment, one or more pairsof the electrodes could be selected and used to emit time-varyingcurrents such that power is received by electrodes located on oppositesides of the implanted device.

Note that the illustrated configurations of the implanted devices 250,350, 450 (i.e., as disk-shaped devices including the illustratedcomponents) are intended as a non-limiting example embodiment of animplantable device configured to receive wireless power (e.g., from aneye-mountable device) and to perform some operations using such receivedwireless power. As noted elsewhere herein, such an implantable devicecould be configured differently according to different applications.Such implanted devices could act to detect physiological propertieswithin the eye (e.g., images, light levels, intraocular pressures,accelerations and/or rotations of the eye) and to transmit wirelessindications of such detected properties to systems outside of the eye.In an example, an implantable device could lack an actuated lens andcould, instead, include a transmitter configured to transmit a wirelessindication (e.g., coded pulses of light, radio frequency waves, and/orcurrents or voltages within the tissues or fluids of the eye) of adetected accommodation force. In this example, an eye-mountable devicecould include a receiver configured to receive the wireless indicationand could further include an actuated lens that is operable, based onthe received indication of the accommodation force and/or based on someother information, to provide a controllable optical power to an eye towhich the eye-mountable device is mounted. In some examples, animplantable device as described herein could include a first elementconfigured to be disposed near the anterior surface of the eye (e.g.,within and/or beneath the anterior sclera or cornea, within theposterior capsule) and to receive wireless power. The first elementcould provide such received power, via a cable or other means, to one ormore further elements implanted on or within the eye, e.g., to an arrayof stimulating electrode disposed on the retina.

The eye-mountable devices as shown herein (e.g., 110, 210, 310, 410)could be configured to modulate an intensity, a phase, a frequency, awavelength, or some other property of the wireless power transmitted bythe eye-mountable devices in order to wirelessly transmit information.Conversely, the implantable devices as shown herein (e.g., 150, 250,350, 450) could include amplifiers, demodulators, decoders, or otherelements configured to receive such wirelessly transmitted information.The transmitted information could include commands, programming,detected physiological parameters, or other information that could beused, by the implanted device, to perform some function.

The eye-mountable devices as shown herein (e.g., 110, 210, 310, 410)could include one or more sensors (not shown) configured to detectphysiological parameters of a body (e.g., concentrations of analytes intears or other bodily fluids, an amount of blood in a portion ofsubsurface vasculature of the sclera or eyelid, an oxygenation state ofblood, whether an eyelid is closed), properties of the environment ofthe device (e.g., an ambient illumination, a barometric pressure, atemperature), properties of the device (e.g., an acceleration, anorientation), or to detect some other information. Such sensors couldinclude accelerometers, electrodes (e.g., electrodes of anelectrochemical analyte sensors, electrodes of an electrophysiologicalsensor configured to detect an electrocardiogram, an electrooculogram,an electromyogram, or some other bioelectrical signal), light detectors,thermometers, gyroscopes, capacitance sensors, pressure sensors, straingauges, light emitters, microphones, or other elements configured todetect one or more physical variables related to a property of interest.The eye-mountable devices as shown herein could operate such elements tomeasure physiological parameters or other information of interest at oneor more points in time. Such measured properties and/or parameters couldbe recorded (e.g., in a memory of the device, for example, for latertransmission to an external system), transmitted to an external system,indicated using elements of the device (e.g., using a display, using oneor more light-emitting elements), used to determine a health state of auser, or used according to some other application.

As noted above, a battery of an eye-mountable device as described hereincould be single use (i.e., non-rechargeable) or could be rechargeable.In examples wherein the battery is rechargeable, the eye-mountabledevice could be configured in a variety of ways to facilitate receptionof energy to recharge the battery. The eye-mountable device couldinclude an antenna (e.g., a loop antenna) to receive radio frequencyelectromagnetic energy, a photovoltaic cell or other light receivingelement(s) to receive optical energy, two or more electrodes to receiveelectrical currents (e.g., via direct contact with correspondingelectrodes of a recharger and/or via a conductive fluid in which theeye-mountable device is disposed), or some other means for receivingenergy from an external device. In some examples, the means used toreceive the energy could have elements in common with the powertransmitter used to wirelessly transmit power to an implanted device.For example, a loop antenna used to transmit radio frequencyelectromagnetic energy from a battery of the eye-mountable device to animplanted device could also be used to receive radio frequencyelectromagnetic energy to recharge the battery. In another example,electrodes used to transmit time-varying currents from a battery of theeye-mountable device to an implanted device could also be used toreceive currents to recharge the battery.

III. Example Electronics of Devices

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a system 500 that includes an eye-mountabledevice 510 wirelessly transmitting power 525 to an implanted device 550.The eye-mountable device 510 may also receive power from a power source580. As shown indicated by dashed lines in FIG. 5, the implanted device550 and eye-mountable device 510 are disposed on or within a body 501;specifically, the eye-mountable device is mounted to a surface of an eyeof the body 501 and the implanted device 550 is implanted on or withinthe eye of the body 501. Exposed regions of the eye-mountable device 510may be made of a polymeric material formed to be contact-mounted to abody surface, e.g. to a corneal surface of the eye.

The eye-mountable device 510 includes a controller 530, bio-interactiveelectronics 539, a power transmitter 520, a battery 525, and a recharger535. The bio-interactive electronics 539 are configured to detectphysiological properties (e.g., a glucose concentration in tears), todetect movements of the eye and/or eyelids (e.g., to detect commandgestures), to provide indications to a user (e.g., by emitting lightfrom an LED and/or display), to provide a controllable optical power tothe eye of the body 501 (e.g., by operating an actuated lens) or tootherwise interact with the body 501 and are operated by the controller530. The power transmitter 520 can be operated to wirelessly transmitpower from the battery 525 to the implanted device 550 in the eye. Thepower transmitter 520 can include light-emitting elements (e.g., LEDs,lasers, VCSELs), radio-frequency electromagnetic energy-transmittingelements (e.g., antennas, coils), elements configured to inject atime-varying current into tissues or fluids of the body 501 (e.g.,electrodes), or other elements configured to transmit power from thebattery 525 to the implanted device 550. The power transmitter 520, thecontroller 530, the battery 525, the recharger 535, and thebio-interactive electronics 539 can all be connected together viainterconnects 515, e.g., via patterns of metallic traces formed on asubstrate material on which the components (e.g., 535, 530, 539) aredisposed. Further, the power transmitter 520 could comprise metallictraces or patterns formed on such a substrate material (e.g., to formantennas, impedance matching elements, plates of capacitors, electrodes,mirrors or diffraction gratings).

To facilitate contact-mounting to an eye, a polymeric material of theeye-mountable device 510 can have a concave surface configured to adhere(“mount”) to a moistened corneal surface (e.g., by capillary forces witha tear film coating the corneal surface). Additionally or alternatively,the eye-mountable device 510 can be adhered by a vacuum force betweenthe corneal surface and the polymeric material due to the concavecurvature. While mounted with the concave surface against the eye, theoutward-facing surface of the polymeric material can have a convexcurvature that is formed to not interfere with eye-lid motion while theeye-mountable device 510 is mounted to the eye. For example, thepolymeric material can be a substantially transparent curved polymericdisk shaped similarly to a contact lens.

The implanted device 550 includes a controller 570, a sensor 575, apower receiver 560, and an actuated lens 579. The power receiver 560 canbe operated to receive power wirelessly transmitted, by the powertransmitter 520, from the battery 525 of the eye-mountable device 510.This could include receiving optical energy (e.g., via a photovoltaiccell), radio frequency electromagnetic energy (e.g., via an antenna, viaa coil), energy from an electrical current or potential in the tissuesor fluids surrounding the implanted device 550 (e.g., via electrodes),or receiving some other energy wirelessly transmitted form theeye-mountable device 510. The implanted device 550 could include anultracapacitor or some other form of short-term energy storage toprovide energy for use by the device 550 when power is unavailable fromthe eye-mountable device 510 (e.g., when the eye-mountable device 510 isnot mounted to the eye).

The sensor 575 is configured to detect a physiological property of thebody (e.g., a pressure or force, a biopotential, a light intensity). Ina particular example, the sensor 575 could be an accommodation sensorconfigured to detect, directly or indirectly, accommodation forcesexerted on a lens capsule of the eye, e.g., by detecting a force orpressure within the lens capsule via haptics, via an elastic materialdisposed in the lens capsule, via detection of electrical activity ofthe ciliary muscles, or via some other means.

The actuated lens 579 is operable to control an optical power of thelens 579 that is provided to the eye. Operating the actuated lens 579 tocontrol the optical power of the lens could include applying a voltageto a liquid crystal of the lens 579, applying a voltage toelectrowetting elements of the lens 579 or operating a pump or someother element to control a pressure and/or disposition of a fluid withinthe lens 579, or controlling the optical power of the lens by some othermethod.

The implanted device 550 and/or eye-mountable device 510 could includeadditional or alternative elements. In some examples, the implanteddevice 550 and eye-mountable device 510 could include elements operableto facilitate communication of information between the devices 510, 550.In some examples, this could include the power transmitter 520 beingconfigured to control an intensity, a phase, a frequency, apolarization, a direction, or some other properties of wireless energytransmitted from the power transmitter 520 to indicate information. In aparticular example, the actuated lens 579 could be part of theeye-mountable device 510 (that is, the implanted device 550 could lackthe actuated lens 579). In this example, the implanted device 550 couldinclude a transmitter and could operate the transmitter to providewireless indications of an accommodation force detected using the sensor575. The eye-mountable device 510 could then, using a receiver of theeye-mountable device 510, receive the wireless indications of theaccommodation force and use the received information about theaccommodation source to control the optical power of the actuated lensof the eye-mountable device 510.

It is noted that the block diagram shown in FIG. 5 is described inconnection with functional modules for convenience in description.However, embodiments of the eye-mountable device 510 and/or implanteddevice 550 can be arranged with one or more of the functional modules(“sub-systems”) implemented in a single chip, integrated circuit, and/orphysical feature. That is, the functional blocks in FIG. 5 need not beimplemented as separated modules. Moreover, one or more of thefunctional modules described in FIG. 5 can be implemented by separatelypackaged chips electrically connected to one another. Further, note thatan eye-mountable device and/or an implanted device as described hereincould include additional or alternative components to those shown inFIG. 5 (e.g., additional sensors, actuated lenses, displays, retinalstimulator arrays, electrodes, batteries, controllers, transmitters,receivers, stimulators, etc.). For example, the eye-mountable device 510could lack the recharger 535 and could be operated as a single-usedevice (e.g., operated until the battery 525 is depleted and thendiscarded and/or recycled).

The power source 580 includes a power transmitter 595 to provide powerto the eye-mountable device 510 to, e.g., recharge the battery 525 inembodiments wherein the battery 525 is rechargeable. The power sourcecould include a battery (e.g., single-use alkaline batteries,rechargeable lithium-polymer batteries), a solar cell, connection to amains power source, or some other source of energy. The powertransmitter 595 could be configured to provide power wirelessly (e.g.,as radio frequency electromagnetic energy via an antenna, as lightenergy via an LED or other light-emitting element(s)) or through directcontact with the eye-mountable device (e.g., via direct contact betweenelectrodes or other conductive elements of the recharger 595 andcorresponding electrodes or other conductive elements of the recharger535). The power source 580 could be configured to provide power to theeye-mountable device when the eye-mountable device 510 is not mounted toan eye (e.g., when the device 510 is placed within a chargingreceptacle, on a charging dock, or on or within some other aspect orelement of the power source 580) or while the eye-mountable device ismounted to an eye. For example, the power source 580 could beimplemented in eye glasses or a head-mounted display and could operateto provide power to the eye-mountable device 510.

IV. Example Methods

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method 600 for operating a first device towirelessly transmit power to a second device that is located within aneye (e.g., that is implanted within the eye). The first device includesa battery and a wireless power transmitter and the second deviceincludes a wireless power receiver.

The method 600 includes mounting the first device to an eye, wherein thesecond device is implanted within the eye (602). In some examples, thefirst device could be formed to substantially conform to a cornea of theeye, and mounting the first device to an eye (602) could includemounting the first device on the cornea such that the first device islocated proximate the second device.

The method 600 includes wirelessly transmitting power from the batteryof the first device via the wireless power transmitter of the firstdevice (604). This could include emitting light, e.g., one or more beamsof light, from the wireless power transmitter. In another example, this(604) could include emitting, via an antenna, coil, or other elements ofthe wireless power transmitter, radio frequency electromagnetic energyfrom the wireless power transmitter. In yet another example, this (604)could include transmitting, via electrodes of the wireless powertransmitter, time-varying currents into tissues or fluids of the eye.Wirelessly transmitting power from the battery of the first device (604)could include transmitting energy in some other form (e.g., asacoustical waves). Wirelessly transmitting power from the battery of thefirst device (604) could include wirelessly transmitting information bymodulating an intensity, a phase, a frequency, a wavelength, adirection, a polarization, or some other property of the emitted powerin order to wirelessly indicate information to the second device.

The method 600 further includes receiving, by the wireless powerreceiver of the second device, the power wirelessly transmitted from thebattery via the wireless power transmitter (606). This could includereceiving light, e.g., one or more beams of light, via a photovoltaiccell or other elements of the wireless power receiver. In anotherexample, this (606) could include receiving, via an antenna, coil, orother elements of the wireless power receiver, radio frequencyelectromagnetic energy. In yet another example, this (606) could includereceiving, via electrodes of the wireless power receiver, time-varyingcurrents and/or potentials from tissues or fluids of the eye. Wirelesslyreceiving power transmitted from the battery (606) could includereceiving wireless energy in some other form (e.g., as acousticalwaves). Wirelessly receiving power from the battery of the first device(606) could include wirelessly receiving information form the firstdevice, e.g., by demodulating changes over time of an intensity, aphase, a frequency, a wavelength, a direction, a polarization, or someother property of the received power in order to determine informationthat has been wirelessly indicated by the first device.

The method 600 could include additional steps or elements in addition tothose depicted in FIG. 6 (i.e., 602, 604, 606). For example, the method600 could include operating the second device to provide somefunctionality using the power received from the first device. This couldinclude detecting a physiological parameter, e.g., detecting anaccommodation force exerted on a lens capsule of the eye. Operating thesecond device could further include operating an actuated lens of thesecond device to control, based on the detected accommodation force, anoptical power provided by the actuated lens to the eye. In anotherexample, the second device could transmit, using a transmitter of thesecond device, a wireless indication of the detected physiologicalparameter. The first device could then receive, using a receiver of thefirst device, the wireless indication and could perform some operationsbased on the received indication of the physiological parameter. Forexample, the indicated physiological parameter could be a detectedaccommodation force, and the first device could operate an actuated lensof the first device to control, based on the indicated accommodationforce, an optical power provided by the actuated lens to the eye. Inanother example, the method 600 could include operating the first deviceto receive power and to use the received power to recharge the battery.Other steps or elements of the method 600 are anticipated.

V. Conclusion

Where example embodiments involve information related to a person or adevice of a person, the embodiments should be understood to includeprivacy controls. Such privacy controls include, at least, anonymizationof device identifiers, transparency and user controls, includingfunctionality that would enable users to modify or delete informationrelating to the user's use of a product.

Further, in situations in where embodiments discussed herein collectpersonal information about users, or may make use of personalinformation, the users may be provided with an opportunity to controlwhether programs or features collect user information (e.g., informationabout a user's medical history, social network, social actions oractivities, profession, a user's preferences, or a user's currentlocation), or to control whether and/or how to receive content from thecontent server that may be more relevant to the user. In addition,certain data may be treated in one or more ways before it is stored orused, so that personally identifiable information is removed. Forexample, a user's identity may be treated so that no personallyidentifiable information can be determined for the user, or a user'sgeographic location may be generalized where location information isobtained (such as to a city, ZIP code, or state level), so that aparticular location of a user cannot be determined. Thus, the user mayhave control over how information is collected about the user and usedby a content server.

The particular arrangements shown in the Figures should not be viewed aslimiting. It should be understood that other embodiments may includemore or less of each element shown in a given Figure. Further, some ofthe illustrated elements may be combined or omitted. Yet further, anexemplary embodiment may include elements that are not illustrated inthe Figures. Further, note that while example embodiments of intraoculardevices (e.g., retinal implants, intraocular lenses) are provided thatreceive wireless power from a battery-containing contact lens or otherbattery-containing eye-mountable device, further devices that areconfigured to be disposed within an eye and to receive power fromeye-mountable devices disposed on the surface of the eye areanticipated. Further, multiple such devices could be disposed on and/orwithin an eye and may wirelessly receive power from an eye mountabledevice that includes a battery as described herein.

Additionally, while various aspects and embodiments have been disclosedherein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilledin the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are forpurposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with thetrue scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims. Otherembodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presentedherein. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the presentdisclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in thefigures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, separated, and designedin a wide variety of different configurations, all of which arecontemplated herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. An ophthalmic system comprising: a contact lens,wherein the contact lens is removably mountable on an eye and comprises:a rechargeable battery; a wireless power transmitter operatively coupledto the battery, such that the wireless power transmitter can wirelesslytransmit power from the battery, the wireless power transmitter beingone of a plurality of electrodes, a light emitter, or a radio frequency(RF) transmitting antenna; a recharger operatively coupled to thebattery, wherein the recharger includes a recharger power receiver forreceiving power from an external power source; and a controlleroperatively coupled to the battery, wireless power transmitter, andrecharger; and an accommodating intraocular lens (aIOL), wherein theaccommodating intraocular lens is implantable within the eye andcomprises: a wireless power receiver, wherein the wireless powerreceiver can receive power wirelessly transmitted by the wireless powertransmitter of the contact lens when the contact lens is mounted on theeye and the accommodating intraocular lens is implanted within the eye,the wireless power receiver being one of a plurality of electrodes, alight sensor, or a radio frequency (RF) receiving antenna; anaccommodation sensor that can detect an attempt by the eye to control anoptical power of the eye; an actuated dynamic lens operatively coupledto the accommodation sensor, such that an optical power of the actuateddynamic lens is adjustable based on an attempt by the eye to control theoptical power of the eye; and a controller coupled to the actuateddynamic optic to control actuation of the actuated dynamic optic basedon detection of an attempted accommodation by the eye.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the wireless power transmitter comprises a plurality ofcontact lens electrodes, and wherein the wireless power receivercomprises a plurality of accommodating intraocular lens electrodes. 3.The system of claim 1, wherein the wireless power transmitter comprisesa light emitter, and wherein the wireless power receiver comprises alight sensor.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the light emitter emitsa beam of light that is off-axis relative to an optical axis of the eyewhen the contact lens is mounted to the eye.
 5. The system of claim 1,wherein the wireless power transmitter comprises a contact lens antennafor transmitting radio frequency electromagnetic energy, and wherein thewireless power receiver comprises a accommodating intraocular lensantenna for receiving the transmitted radio frequency electromagneticenergy.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the contact lens antenna andthe accommodating intraocular lens antenna are substantially coaxialwhen the contact lens is mounted to the eye and the accommodatingintraocular lens is implanted within the eye.